1. Technical Field
The present invention is directed to the field of computer-implemented graphical user interfaces. More specifically, the present invention relates to user controls on graphical user interfaces.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, computer display functionality was limited because the display hardware and software were not capable of more than basic input and output. Such basic interfaces serially prompted the user for data, and then would display calculation results derived from the prompted data. The user typically could not branch off in mid-stream of entering data to see other views of the data and then return to the original point.
In contrast to past computer display functionality, the currently popular windowing graphical user interfaces (GUIs) present users with a large amount of information at one time. Today's GUIs are crowded with information that not infrequently overwhelms the user. Consequently, today's developer must balance the presentability of the information with the amount of information desired to be seen.
To further compound the problem for today's interface developers, interface developers typically must address limited display space requirements because of the size of computer screens (e.g. PDAs and laptops). Among existing graphical user interface controls, the developers could use multiple screens to display an entire list, thus causing the user to navigate through those additional screens in order to make selections from the list, or lists. This can sometimes result in a confusing situation for a user who wishes to input and view data.